A Game of Cat and Mouse No More
by FreeAfterDark
Summary: A story written for a friend. When the unthinkable happens, Inspector Fox may be all alone to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. But, she's not as alone as she thinks she is. Carmelita/OC Sly/Neyla


_A/N: A story for BananaB0mb, I promised I'd write this for them. Although I'm not sure if they're so interested in the idea anymore that they'd want me to continue. Anyways, here's chapter 1, as promised, enjoy my friend._

* * *

Chapter 1 A Goodbye and a Hello

* * *

"I can't believe this…"

That was the first coherent sentence to leave Inspector Fox's mouth after receiving the news that literally brought her to her knees, nearly yanked the sanity from her poor overworked mind.

She knew she would remember the day before for the rest of her life, and it would change her life.

Forever.

She was in her office, it was just another ordinary day, and that wasn't something she'd been able to have in weeks, truth be told. Everything had finally calmed down after the chaos ensued from Sly's theft framings, the uproar this has caused at Interpol, the unwanted publicity, the doubt mingled with fear and uncertainty shed felt for her partner and lover, her beloved Constable Cooper, had all dissipated.

Things had finally returned to normal, if things in her life could ever be considered normal. The physical injuries everyone received were healing, and though the emotional scars of losing two officers in it all would stay with many officers at Interpol for years, Carmelita was happy again. She was with Sly again, and everything was exactly the way it was supposed to be.

And then everything changed.

The vixen inspector was going through the papers scattered about on the surface on her desk when her door swung open without warning. And there in her doorway stood the exuberant (at times overwhelmingly so) dingo, Dominic Bordeaux. His bristly tail whipping about, he greeted Carmelita with a wide grin and a salute before leaning against the door frame. "Hey there Inspector!" he sang out.

Carmelita stopped rearranging her papers into neat stacks and pushed her glasses down her nose as she smirked at the younger dingo. Her lips twitched minutely and formed an amused smirk, but it was far from anything that could be considered a smile. "Constable," she addressed him. "You are aware that we officers knock before entering each other's' personal offices around here, aren't you?" she asked in a reprimanding voice.

Dominic wasn't fazed in the least at the vixen's stern tone, however he did straighten his stance a bit and nodded politely. He straightened out his dress shirt, trying to suck his gut in a bit. "Of course, sorry Miss Fox. Sometimes I just…" He licked his lips. "…can't think straight when a beautiful lady's on my mind."

Taken completely off guard by his forward statement, her eyes widened and her brows furrowed. At first she was speechless, but then blinked several times and shook her head. She turned the majority of her attention back to her papers. "Is there something you needed, Constable? I'm…flattered, but…I'm a bit uncomfortable when it comes to compliments, to be perfectly honest, and I'm very busy right now, I have a good amount of work to catch up on after being home sick the last three days." She picked up reports and other miscellaneous papers, and resumed sorting them, crumpling a few and tossing them in the trash can by her feet. A tiny smile then tugged at her crimson lips as she looked back up at him. "Besides, you know I'm taken."

Dominic snickered and ran a hand through his tousled sandy hair. "Yea yea, I know. That's kinda what I came to ask you about."

She raised her head and eyed him cautiously. "Beg pardon?"

"Well, I mean, it's about Sly." The dingo shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "I was just wondering if you knew where he is. He hasn't been around HQ in a week or so, and I was just worried that something was wrong. Is he sick too? I mean, I know people tend to pass around bugs when they…spend a lot of time together." He grinned at her cheekily.

Carmelita couldn't help but laugh and roll her eyes. "That may be true, but I'm pretty certain he's not sick. If he is, he hasn't told me. But I suppose that would explain his absence." She tapped a finger to her chin in a thoughtful manner. "I could always go over to his apartment and check on him, work's just been hectic lately, with these robberies springing up all over Paris, I've been a little distracted, to say the least."

"Wait…" Dominic said, holding a hand up. "S-so…he…you guys aren't…living together?"

A faint blush colored the vixen's cheek and she cleared her throat. "Uh, I think it'd be best if we waited until marriage to make living arran—"

"You mean that sorry joker hasn't asked you yet?" The dingo interrupted. He gave her an incredulous look and crossed his arms. "I swear, Cooper's a strange one. You'd think he'd jump right on that one. What's he waiting for? A sign from the gods?" The shorter canine laughed aloud at his own attempt at a joke.

Carmelita didn't laugh with him but instead pursed her lips and stared out her office window, contemplating that very question. As she watched the angry black clouds gather in the dark sky above Paris, and listened to the distant rumble of thunder, she thought about how Sly had seemed to be getting more and more distant from her. Come to think of it, they hadn't been on a true date in weeks. How long had it been since they'd last made love? Had it really been a whole month? He hadn't uttered a single word of marriage, much less any conversation relating to it. Was he having second thoughts?

"Uhh, Inspector, want me to close your window? That wind is gettin' pretty wild out there."

Snapping out of her trance, she looked up at him. "Hmm?"

He didn't have time to repeat himself before a gust of wind blew in from the open window and sent a few papers flying off of Carmelita's desk.

The vixen groaned.

"I got 'em Miss Fox!" the faithful canine announced as he began to pick up papers that had drifted to the floor.

Carmelita walked over and closed her window, and just in time too. As soon as she closed it, rain began to sprinkle down from the black clouds. "Thanks Dom."

Dominic handed her the stray report papers right away, but curiosity led him to hold onto the other object a bit longer. He gripped it in both hands and looked down at it with an inquisitive frown. "Hey, what's this?"

Carmelita returned to her desk but instead of sitting back down, she walked over to the Constable. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the small envelope he held. "I'm not sure," she mused. She held a palm out and he obediently gave her the small white square in question. Her eyes narrowed as she studied it. Noticing the handwriting straightaway, her lips formed a small 'o' shape. "It's from Sly…"

Dominic snorted in amusement. "Are you guys passing love notes back and forth at work now or something?" he asked.

As her only form of response, Carmelita shot him a curt sideways glance and ripped open the envelope. Inside was one of Sly's calling cards with a small handwritten message on it.

The younger Constable wasn't sure what was on the message but as Carmelita continued to read it, he knew it couldn't be anything good. Her breathing grew erratic and shaky, her hands started trembling, horror filling her eyes.

"No," she whispered.

"In…Inspector? What's wrong?"

She didn't answer; she just gripped the note feebly, her trembling intensifying. She dropped the note as her knees gave out and she began to fall to the floor.

A wide-eyed Dominic rushed over and threw his arms around her to support her. "Carmelita, are you ok?"

She held her chest as she started to hyperventilate, her head shaking back and forth uneasily. "It can't…it's not…a-a-nd h-he's not…"

Uncertain of what to do or say, he just helped ease her down so she was kneeling and he was crouching beside her. He fished his cell phone out his pocket and dialed one of his superiors. "Jim, it's Dominic, could you come to Inspector Fox's office? I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm not totally sure she's stable right now." The younger dingo held her securely. "It's ok Carmelita." He helped her to her shaky feet. "We'll get someone to take you home. Not sure you're in any condition to drive right now.."

She didn't respond.

* * *

That was yesterday. And after a sleepless night, she wasn't doing much better, but no one could tell her not to come to work as long as she seemed able to perform her job.

A soft knock came at her door, startling her and bringing her back to the present day. She quickly ran her hands through her unruly blue hair and straightened up in her chair. "Come in," she called, her voice sounding weak and breathy to her, as if she had some kind of terrible cold.

The door creaked open, light flooding in from the busy hallway, and Commissioner Arks appeared. The tall and lean coyote eyed Carmelita warily for a moment, his serious demeanor remaining stoic. He adjusted his glasses and quietly cleared his throat. "Good morning, Inspector."

Carmelita stared back at him. The Commissioner was dressed sharply, as always, his head fur styled neatly, not a single strand out of place, and his dress shirt and coat looking brand new. She envied him, in a way, for seeming to have everything together and being so at ease when she was falling apart at the moment.

"Is…this a bad time?" he asked, his head canting to the side just slightly, one hand still gripping the edge of Carmelita's office door.

She readjusted her yellow jacket and shook her head. "No…no sir." She rubbed at her eyes and forced a small laugh. "I'm at work, Commissioner. I can't have any bad times, that would be unprofessional."

"Everyone here is aware of the severity of your situation, Carmelita," he spoke to her in a reserved and almost detached voice, though his eyes softened with a bit of sympathy. "It's perfectly understandable that you'd be upset right now."

She scoffed and covered her face with her hands. 'Upset' didn't even begin to cover it.

The coyote's lips pressed together tightly as he tried to read her expression. He'd always been exceptionally good at that, but Carmelita was different; she was very difficult to read sometimes. There was so much more going on in her thoughts than she ever dared to reveal.

"Inspector…"

With effort, she raised her head and met his gaze, his stern gaze that was impassive, and yet, seemed to harbor compassion.

He eased the door shut behind him and folded his arms across his chest. "Perhaps it would be best if you took it easy today and went back home," he offered in that calm voice he possessed.

Her eyes widened and her ears shot straight up at such a suggestion. She feebly shook her head. "No!" she protested, a little too loudly, immediately after, lowering her voice. "N-no…I'm fine sir. Honest."

He exhaled sharply through his nose and gave the exhausted, heartbroken vixen a thorough once-over. Her hair somewhat resembled the bride of Frankenstein's, if her hair were blue. It was tangled and sat in messy clumps on her shoulders. She was keeping it in her usual braid, though it was a pitiful attempt on her part at making her hair look the least bit presentable. And from what the coyote could tell, from the eyeliner smears and faded look of her lipstick, she was still wearing yesterday's makeup. Her eyes were weary, deep circles showing beneath each chestnut brown orb.

"Don't you think you're in great need of some rest right now, Inspector?" he tried.

"…I can't sleep," was all she could respond with.

Isaac nodded slowly, that ghost of a smile that normally adorned his muzzle was currently missing. "What about just relaxing at home? With all due respect Miss Fox, I find it hard to believe that given your situation, you could handle the added stress of work today."

She could hardly believe her two-toned ears. What did he take her for? Some lovesick weakling? Maybe she was a bit heartbroken, yes, but weakling, absolutely not. Weak wasn't a word in her vocabulary.

"I mean, look at you, you look like death."

Her jaw falling open, she stared up at him in disbelief. "Well gee, thanks," she hissed, deeply offended by his remark.

He held a hand up to her. "I say that out of concern, Inspector," he attempted once more.

Really? That honestly didn't sound like 'concern' to her in the slightest.

She felt like giving him a cold retort, but knew better than to do so, for her words would be coated in venom. She took a deep breath and managed to smile up at her superior. "I'm fine Commissioner, honest. I can tackle my job today, please trust me when I say that."

He knew she was far from fine, but didn't feel like arguing with her further. His lips a thin line, he exhaled sharply through his nostrils and gave a nod of his head. "if you insist, Miss Fox." He reached up to adjust his tie. "If you feel up to it, I'm calling several of your fellow agents together for a meeting in half an hour. We're discussing Interpol's newest target, who, to the best of our knowledge, is responsible for the recent robbery at the galleria on 5th and Main. He calls himself The Shadow Thief."

_Oh great_, _just fucking great,_ Carmelita thought in deep sarcasm. _Another thief to chase. How fun._

With some effort, her weary mind sifted through the information she'd been given, and she gave a respectful nod. "Y-yes sir, I'll be there."

Another awkward moment of silence was shared between the vixen and coyote before he nodded yet again and shut her door.

She laid her head on her desk, wondering what kind of trouble this Shadow Thief would cause her and all of Interpol, but in a strange way, the distraction was welcome in her eyes. It would help her get her mind off of Sly, if only for a short while.

* * *

The pair of dexterous hands worked skillfully at the prison cell lock. The thief those hands belonged to had anxiously been waiting this day for weeks on end. He had traveled alone, for this was something he couldn't tell his brothers about. Not now, maybe not ever.

How would they understand? How could they? This wouldn't make sense to anyone but himself, and of course, her.

He reached into his red pouch and pulled out a lockpicking tool, his nimble hands working at the lock. A sad smile graced his muzzle as he realized that he couldn't rely on Murray or Bentley anymore to use their strength and brains to help him break into places. He'd just have to compromise using his own skills.

At last, Sly heard the satisfying noise of the ancient padlock detaching from its place on the door. He let it fall to the hard cement floor with a sharp 'clank'. He swung the cell door open, the creaking of its hinges slicing through the cool air around him. As he opened the door, a graceful figure slowly sauntered out of the shadows.

Her eyes like shimmering emeralds, fixated on the thief, swirling with pent-up lust and desire, with maybe just a hint of actual love swimming in the green irises.

Maybe.

She quickly closed the distance between them, her hands eagerly exploring his defined torso, a satisfied smile on her dark violet lips.

And then her voice reached his procyonid ears, that voice Sly had secretly been dying to hear for so long.

"I knew you'd come for me, Poodle."


End file.
